MacK1950 2,231 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Zalelam was all of the above reports but most of the time looked like the player picked last to play no sense of positioning trying to be too precise with his passes giving them no strength not what is required in our promotion push. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 I haven't had an opportunity to comment on the excellent OP because I must admit that the term metronome was new to me in a football sense and I wanted to take time to do some research before I made too much of a fool of myself. In addition I did not see the games at Morton or Raith where by all accounts he put in two of his best performances. That said (and at the risk of incurring more of BD's ire) I watched Zelalem as closely as I could today. The first thing to say is that he took a long time to get into the game, so far as I could see he only touched the ball twice in the first 12 minutes and 5 times in the first 20 minutes. He then seemed to hit a bit of a purple patch and on the count in my head completed approx 17 of 20 passes in total before half time, most were forward, some sideways and few backwards. In addition he twice got us out of trouble recovering the ball in the centre circle and recycling the play, if that is the correct terminology. He lost the ball in possession on one occasion. However (as against Raith if reports are to be believed) he started the second half very poorly and although he completed another 3 passes, he lost possession 3 times before being substituted in the 60th minute. So overall he has a very high pass completion rate, as high as 87%; but the vast majority of these passes are short (5-10 yards) and in the middle third, not the danger zone. When he attempts to drive into or pass into the danger zone invariably he loses possession or misplaces the pass. I also noticed that when Holt came on in his place there was a noticeable increase in tempo and dare I say Law also contributed to that with his arrival in the 73rd minute. Now I realise that Zelalem and Holt/Law/Shiels are quite different types of player but it seems to me that Zelalem's somewhat laconic style slows the game down and despite his high pass completion rate, he does little or no damage to the opposition. Talk of him in the same breath as Arteta is badly misplaced IMHO. next bit to try and look for is how many other options did he have that were better than the option he took? He can pass backwards 20 times in a row as long as it was the best option available at the time 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 I think some people watch a different game from me. Zelalem was excellent in the first half and gave 2 really good defence splitting balls that Wallace and Miller(I think) failed to control the ball. He even got in a few good tackles. McKay man of the match was also a joke as he had one of his poorest games of the season. Zelalem was in the first half but overall I would say Kiernen was about our best player. Halliday and Ball in the team is not working imo as Halliday struggles to impress. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,409 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 I think some people watch a different game from me. Zelalem was excellent in the first half and gave 2 really good defence splitting balls that Wallace and Miller(I think) failed to control the ball. He even got in a few good tackles. McKay man of the match was also a joke as he had one of his poorest games of the season. Zelalem was in the first half but overall I would say Kiernen was about our best player. Halliday and Ball in the team is not working imo as Halliday struggles to impress. MW knows a player,I will always trust him before any fan posting on a forum! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Lol. Law ? Again ? You are absolutely JOKING BH. The only thing Law did was shadow a Killie player as he broke beyond halfway on a counter attack, allowing the CH to step up to challenge whilst, yet again for the umpteenth time, Law abdicated his responsibilities as he is a shitebag. It is virtually impossible for any player to get up to speed in a game in less than 20 minutes and Law was only on the pitch for 17 mins; and yet he drove forward at every opportunity. This is in stark contrast to Zelalem who hangs about in no man's land waitng for easy balls. You are as blinkered about Law as you claim me to be about Zelalem. Describing any Rangers player in those terms is bang out of order in my view. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 As regards Halliday, from what I saw today, he is much more effective coming from the deep position, than as an attacking midfielder, where he has far less time to play his controlled and accurate passing game. Holt and Law would be the attacking midfielders in my team. Ball is an excellent prospect at CB, play him there or not at all. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,409 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 As regards Halliday, from what I saw today, he is much more effective coming from the deep position, than as an attacking midfielder, where he has far less time to play his controlled and accurate passing game. Holt and Law would be the attacking midfielders in my team. Ball is an excellent prospect at CB, play him there or not at all. I thought Ball was excellent in DM role,and continued his fine performance at CB! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 (edited) I thought Ball was excellent in DM role,and continued his fine performance at CB! I agree he is a fine centre back, the best we have IMO. I just think Halliday is our best option in that position. Edited February 7, 2016 by BrahimHemdani 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,409 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I agree he is a fine centre back, the best we have IMO. I just think Halliday is our best option in that position. On the current players we have available I would rather see Ball playing DM allowing Halliday a bit more freedom,it's no coincidence that we have looked more comfortable defensively since Ball has played there,not that Halliday was doing much wrong! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 On the current players we have available I would rather see Ball playing DM allowing Halliday a bit more freedom,it's no coincidence that we have looked more comfortable defensively since Ball has played there,not that Halliday was doing much wrong! I just felt that comparing his normal free flowing game when playing deep, I thought that Halliday found it harder to make space and hence made less impact in the more forward position; but there is no argument that he is one of our best players. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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